


Tethered Together

by Flarrow



Series: Love, Time and Fate [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Green Arrow - All Media Types, The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Reality, Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, Canon Era, Dark, Drama, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, No Underage Sex, Not Canon Compliant, Romantic Fluff, Sexual Tension, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Time Travel, Underage Kissing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-14
Updated: 2015-06-16
Packaged: 2018-04-04 07:59:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4130430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flarrow/pseuds/Flarrow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Companion fic to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/3835978/">That Which Binds Them</a>.  Expanded scenes from Barry and Oliver's “original timeline” mentioned in that fic.  Can be read as a standalone as a completely different story, or together with the other fic as more of a supplement.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Barry Allen

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently I'm crazy and I want to write three ongoing fics at the same time. Seriously, I never do this, but the support I've been getting from this fandom is amazing, and so I couldn't help myself. Crossing my fingers that I don't run out of steam!

There was once, for Barry Allen—and all those experiencing it with him—a Timeline Zero. A lifetime of experiences not yet tampered with or altered in any fashion; though even when they eventually would be, several things would consistently stay the same, in this version of events or another.

Some were stories that Barry knew very well. Like how he was the last kid in the neighborhood to learn how to walk, and that his father, the doctor, had worried at first until Barry had one day gotten up and started running, the moment he had somewhere to be. Or how Barry asked his mother not to tell him what his soulmark was, because he wanted to be surprised upon seeing his soulmate.

Others among the details that remained mostly unchanged were basic facts. Like how Barry's parents were both loving and kind, or how Barry always seemed to be late for just about everything.

In the beginning, Barry Allen grew up normally with both his parents, in a loving and nurturing home. He had gotten close to his neighbors and befriended both Joe and his daughter Iris. Barry and Iris remained close friends all throughout their lives and were pretty much inseparable. Which was why everyone was surprised that the pair weren't soulmates. Everyone but Barry and Iris, that was.

“You're never curious about it?” Iris asked Barry one day as they sat down for a midday snack at Jitters. Barry had been late to the meeting, as usual.

“Well, sure I'm _curious_...” Barry said with a chuckle as he took a bite of cookie.

“But not enough to check,” Iris said. She shook her head when Barry shrugged in response. “I don't know how you do it…! I mean, the minute I learned about soulmarks, I _begged_ my dad to tell me what mine was.”

“I mean, _you_ know what mine looks like,” Barry said.

“But you wouldn't let me tell you what it was!” said Iris. “And besides, anyone who's been around you like at the pool or something knows what your soulmark is. It's not like my knowing about it is all that special.”

“I don't know...” Barry said with a small smile on his face. “I guess I just want it to be authentic, you know?”

“Want what to be authentic?” Iris asked.

“Falling in love,” said Barry. “I want to know that I love the person for who they are, and not because we share the same mark.”

Iris rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. “You're such a _romantic_ , Barry.”

Barry laughed softly and ducked his head bashfully. “Funny,” said Barry. “My mom's told me the same thing.”

Iris laughed right along with him. “Well, I'm not surprised!”

Barry smiled and then took a brief glance at his watch. His happy expression quickly dissipated upon seeing what time it was.

“ _Crap_ ,” he said.

Iris shook her head and looked at him fondly. “You're late again, aren't you?”

“I, er... _yes_ ,” Barry said, looking back at his friend with a sheepish expression. “Iris, I'm—”

“Don't worry about it! _Go!_ ” Iris said as she waved Barry off. “Before my dad kills you!”

“More like the _captain_ will kill me…!” Barry groaned as he scrambled together his things. He gave Iris a quick hug. “Sorry! I'll catch you later, okay?”

“Oh, I know you will,” Iris said with a laugh. “ _Late_ r.”

“Ha- _h_ _a_. Very funny, Iris,” Barry said, shaking his head at the pun before rushing his way out of the coffee shop.


	2. Oliver Queen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow!! So much support for this fic already; I'm flattered! Look at all these kudos and hidden bookmarks!! And the number of subscriptions!! :D Thank you!! Hope you all enjoy this chapter as well!

The world knew who Oliver Queen was months before he was even born. His name, splashed all over the news. When Oliver first made his debut in the public eye, he was welcomed by a storm of flashes and clicking.

Naturally, like any Queen, he adapted to his circumstances quite easily, and it was to no one's surprise that he grew up to be most handsome and quite the charmer. Never in a position to want for anything, Oliver wasn't particularly in a hurry to discover who his soulmate was, though he knew what his [mark](http://media.comicbook.com/uploads1/2014/11/flash-arrow-111930.jpg) looked like. The two most important people in his life, aside from his parents, were his sister Thea and his best friend Tommy Merlyn, who was pretty much his right hand man for all things extravagant and fun.

In the years before meeting Barry Allen, in this lifetime and in other iterations, Oliver was the life of the party and conqueror of women. He didn't believe in monogamy, let alone being in a committed relationship. Sure, he would secretly check the soulmarks of his countless paramours, but it was only to prove that the whole thing about soulmates was a crock of bullshit. At least, that's what he liked to tell himself. He would never admit that part of him felt terrified at the thought of falling in love with someone; _especially_ knowing that most of the women who threw themselves at him were only after his looks, money, celebrity status, or all of the above and then some, and not so much who he was as a fellow human being. The truth was, Oliver didn't know how he'd feel if the person he was supposedly meant for ended up also only being after one or more of those same things. It gave him a jaded outlook on love. Which was why when he found out about his little sister's poorly kept secret of a boyfriend, Oliver was none too happy about it.

“Oh, Ollie…! _Please_ don't tell Mom and Dad about this! _Please…_?!”

“And I have half a mind _to_ tell them about this,” Oliver said pointedly to his sister. “ _Thea._ Who is this guy, and why did I catch you sneaking out of your bedroom window to rendezvous with him?”

“You were supposed to be asleep!” Thea said exasperatedly. “Not _heading out to a_ _club_ in the exact moment that I decided to climb out of it! Ugh! Although, I guess I should have known better...you _are_ my brother...that _is_ what you tend to do this late at night...”

“And good thing I was on my way to Tommy's too,” Oliver said, arms folded across his chest. “You still haven't answered my question.”

Thea rolled his eyes. “Okay, _fine_. Ollie, this is Roy. Roy? This is Oliver...my _older brother_.”

“Hi,” Roy said, immediately after Thea's introduction. “It's nice to—”

“How did the two of you meet?” Oliver said, cutting the other man off while glaring at him.

Thea frowned and placed a hand on Oliver's chest, as if to keep him from maiming her boyfriend. “We met at a _pool_ _party_ , okay?”

Oliver looked at his sister, unamused. “When!”

“Earlier this summer!”

“Whose party?”

“My friend Stacy's!”

“And you're just going to trust a guy you met at a party?!”

“Yes!” Thea said, throwing up her hands in the air. “Besides! It's not like he's a _total_ complete stranger!”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“We're _soulmates!_ ”

“Bullshit,” Oliver said, shaking his head. “How do you even know that?”

“Look, just because you're skeptical _and_ you haven't met yours, does _not_ mean that I wouldn't know when I've met mine!” Thea exclaimed.

“When we met, there was this burn in our shoulders...” Roy tried to helpfully supply. “And then later, when we checked—”

Oliver frowned and rounded on Roy. “You had _sex_ with my _sister…_?!”

The younger man's eyes rounded immediately and he threw up his hands as he began to take several steps back. “What! No! Hey, man! _Whoa…_!”

“ _Wait!_ _Ollie…_! That's _not_ how he found out!” Thea said, grabbing her brother by the arm. “Seriously! Did you not just hear me say that I met him at a _pool_ party?! There's other ways to find out what somebody's soulmark looks like, you know!”

“... _fine_ ,” Oliver reluctantly conceded. He then gave Roy a glare once more. “So what do you like about my sister?”

The younger man's brows furrowed together slightly. “A-ah, s-sorry…?”

“Well, if you're not _sleeping_ with her,” said Oliver. “Which you better not be, because I swear if I find out that you are—”

“ _Ollie!_ ”

“—I will absolutely make sure you cannot and will not have children with her, or anyone else for that matter,” Oliver finished, ignoring his sister's outburst.

“L-look, man…! I'm not!” Roy said, shaking his head fervently. “I swear!”

“Good. I believe you...” Oliver said, eyes narrowing. “ _For now._ But you still haven't answered my question.”

“W-what I like about her?” Roy stammered. “I...I mean, I don't know man! _Everything!_ ”

“ _Everything?_ ” Oliver questioned, raising a skeptical eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, what's _not_ to like about Thea?” Roy said, flashing Thea a nervous smile, who returned a reassuring one back. “She's pretty...funny...and a real sweet girl, you know? She really knows how to make me laugh.”

“And she's got _money_ ,” Oliver emphasized, staring the younger man down. “But I'm sure you knew _that_ when you approached her, right?”

“H-hey, man,” Roy said, a frown now creasing his features. “That's a shitty thing to say.”

“But it's true?” asked Oliver.

“ _Hell_ no!” Roy said angrily, somewhat impressing Oliver. “Fuck you.”

“I think most of the ladies in Starling have got that covered for me, thank you,” Oliver said with a slight smirk.

“Dude! Who do you think you are?” Roy said, taking a step forward.

Thea took hold of her boyfriend's hand and squeezed it. “Roy...”

“Oh-ho…! Big boy now, are we?” Oliver said as he tried to look intimidating. “Listen, _kid_. I'm Thea's older brother, and I love her _very much_. So regardless of whether she likes you or not? I don't have to. And believe me, I do _not_ like this. At all.”

He looked back at his sister as he said this, and Thea shook her head at him.

“What are you going to do, Ollie?”

“What were you two planning on doing just now?” asked Oliver.

Thea shrugged. “Just hang out. Maybe go for a drive. I don't know.”

“You know, I'd tell you to go back home, but I can't trust that you'll stay there,” said Oliver. “And Tommy's expecting me. So, tell you what. You two are going to come with me to Tommy's party.”

“ _Really?!_ ” Thea squeaked. “You're going to let us come with you?”

“Believe me...this isn't exactly the most ideal situation for me,” Oliver said, shaking his head. “But it's the only way I know I can keep a close eye on the two of you.”

“Whatever! Now I'm actually glad that you caught us going out!” Thea said with a bright smile. “Come on! Let's go!”

“We'll be taking my car,” said Oliver.

“Yeah, okay,” Thea agreed amicably.

“But first, before we go... _you_. Take off your shirt,” Oliver said to Roy as he gestured with a finger.

Roy raised both his eyebrows. “Uh...excuse me?”

“Come on, hurry up. We don't have all day,” said Oliver. “Take off your shirt.”

“...may I ask why?”

Oliver rolled his eyes. “Look, are you stupid? Just take it off! I need to see if you were telling the truth about the mark. Not that I think my sister would _actually_ lie to me, but...”

“Er...a-all right...I guess that's okay,” Roy agreed reluctantly as he turned around and lifted his shirt up to his neck.

“ _Damn_...” Oliver muttered when he confirmed that what the two of them had said had been true. “I was actually kind of hoping you two were lying to me about that... _all right_. Come on, you two. Let's go get my car.”

Thea hung back a little with Roy, who intentionally kept his distance from Oliver for a moment so that he could ask. “Are you _sure_ going with him is such a good idea…?” Roy whispered.

“Relax…! This is _great!_ ” Thea whispered excitedly back. “ _Much_ better than whatever we would have ended up doing. Ollie _never_ invites me to any of his parties! We're going to have a fantastic time!”

“Somehow, I'm not completely sure I agree...” Roy mumbled as they eventually caught up with Oliver.

Within the next hour, they were in a specially sectioned off area for Tommy's party at a nightclub. Roy found himself constantly looking over his shoulder, and rightly so, because Oliver continued to scrutinize him for the rest of the evening. Thea, on the other hand, was completely relaxed and having the time of her life.

From a short distance away, Oliver was sipping some champagne and staring over the rail of the balcony on a higher level, close to the DJ booth. He glanced over to his left when Tommy approached him with a glass of his own.

“Listen, man,” Oliver said as he tilted his head slightly in his friend's direction. “Thanks for letting me bring the kids in.”

“Hey, it's no problem!” Tommy said with a shrug and a grin. “Anything for my best friend, right? Now let's go check out who's out there on the dance floor and see if we've got ourselves any winners, eh? What do you say?”

Oliver grimaced. “I think I'm going to have to pass on that for tonight, man. Sorry...”

“Gotta keep an eye on the sis, huh?” Tommy said with a laugh. “Yeah, all right. I get it. Babysitting sucks...but mind if I…?”

“Nah, go ahead, man, don't worry about me,” Oliver said, lips quirking up in a small smile. “It's your party.”

“Only 'cause you didn't beat me to the planning!” Tommy said with a grin. “Hey, it's your loss, man, but if you change your mind...”

“Yeah, I know. Thanks,” Oliver said, chuckling. “Now get busy.”

“ _Hah!_ Don't have to tell me twice!”


	3. CC Jitters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third update in a row! Haha. I couldn't resist; I'm having so much fun with this! 
> 
> So originally, I was going to shift things around in the canonical timeline of _The Flash_ and _Arrow_ , but then I decided...why not go the scandalous route…? Make things more exciting…? So I updated the tags for this story to include underage (the year is 2005 in this fic), and I made Barry start out as a forensic intern at the Central City Police Department! Hope no one minds!
> 
> Anyway! Hope that readers enjoy this chapter as well! Oh, and since I couldn't find a birthday for Barry, I just used the same month and date as Grant Gustin's for this story.

It had taken Oliver a while to get used to Thea dating Roy, but after several months of observing them interact together, he reluctantly had to admit that the kid seemed legitimately in love with his sister. So he agreed to continue keeping their secret. That didn't mean he wouldn't break the kid's legs the first chance he got though, should Roy ever break Thea's heart. This they all knew well.

Of course, being privy to his sister's secret and also _approving_ of it, meant that now Oliver was now a recruited accomplice in helping his sister cover up all her suspect activities. Oliver would have ratted her out after the first couple of times, just so he wouldn't have to deal with any of it, but they both knew that he loved Thea too damn much. So he resisted the urge to roll his eyes when Thea vocalized her desire to spend some time with Oliver and go to the mall. In Central City, no less. For a day trip. He went along with it, of course, and their parents had thought nothing of it; after all, they had no reason to suspect otherwise. Fortunately, Oliver had a reason to be there himself, to meet Tommy later on that day.

Oliver shook his head while he and his sister made their way to his Porsche. “So what exactly am _I_ supposed to be doing while you and Roy go...what was it you said you two were going to be doing again?”

“Roy's taking me shopping, and then we're going to go watch a movie,” Thea said with a smile. “Then he'll drop me off at home later this evening, and I'll make it seem like it was you before going off to whatever you're planning on doing later. Didn't you say you and Tommy were going to another party?”

“That's not until later tonight, Speedy!” Oliver groaned as they got into his car and he started the engine. They were going to load the car in their private jet and take the plane to Central. “Now I've gotta find something to keep myself busy for the next several hours.”

“Oh, like that'll be _so hard_ for you to do,” Thea said, smiling at her brother fondly. “Come on, Ollie! Don't be such a downer, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, all right, all right...” Oliver said, chuckling slightly despite himself. “You're so lucky I love you.”

“I _know_ you do,” Thea said with a grin.

After he had dropped his sister off with Roy, and after also securing the other man's agreement that he would not mistreat his sister and bring her back home in one piece, Oliver drove his car back onto the main road; no specific destination in mind.

His aimless wandering eventually brought him somewhere downtown, and Oliver let himself slow down in speed as he took a casual look around. At some point, he noticed the sign for a quaint coffee shop to his right, and there was something about it that made Oliver decide he was going to park his car on the street and spend some time inside. There wasn't anything particularly special that had caught his interest about the shop, but he did, for some reason, feel inexplicably drawn to it. _Besides_ , he reasoned to himself as he pulled open one of the doors and stepped inside, _there wasn't any harm in trying something new_.

Once inside, his eyes took a quick scan over his surroundings. There was something calming about the laid-back atmosphere, something that Oliver wasn't necessarily used to. He came from a high and fast life, and hardly allowed himself time for breaks from it. Occasional moments like these, however, made Oliver honestly wonder why he didn't consider doing so more often.

Feeling a bit antsy, but not quite sure why, Oliver decided that the best thing to do was to not just stand in the middle of a coffee shop awkwardly. No one seemed to have taken notice of him yet, which was refreshing, but Oliver wasn't so naïve as to think that not a single person would recognize him outside of Starling. So he made his way to get in line and prayed that whoever was manning the cash register wouldn't make a big deal about it if they ended up realizing who he was.

Oliver got into line and frowned a little at the backside of the slightly taller man in front of him, who appeared to be intently studying his options on the menu boards tacked onto the wall. Oliver couldn't explain why he was feeling a little bit frustrated then, at not being able to get a good look at the other man's face, to see what he looked like.

His curiosity only piqued when they both reached the front of the line; the other man first, of course, and then for the first time, Oliver heard the other man _speak_. It was a lovely voice, Oliver thought to himself, but it also definitely sounded _young._  Not that it really mattered, Oliver supposed. He didn't even know why he was so interested in the first place.

Then the other man abruptly turned around—although to be fair, Oliver had admittedly not been paying attention, and he probably _had_ gotten just a little too close in order to do his eavesdropping—and suddenly Oliver found himself an armful of brunette.

“ _Oof_ …!” the younger man said, voice muffled by his face having accidentally buried itself in Oliver's chest. “I'm sorry, I— _oh wow_.”

Oliver felt the corner of his lips twitch upon seeing the look of sheer awe on the brunette's face. He'd seen that look countless times before, on a number of different easily forgettable women, but somehow on this person, he couldn't help but to find it endearing.

In fact, he found the younger man all the more so when he breathed in awe. “You're…! _Oliver Queen…_!”

Then Oliver's eyes widened in surprise when he felt a sudden searing heat flash in his shoulder area. He was equally surprised to see the other man wince in his arms.

“No way...” the brunette whispered, apparently thinking the same thing Oliver was, in that moment. “We're…?”

 _“Well, isn't_ _**this** interesting?” _ Oliver thought to himself as he tilted his head slightly to one side and felt his lips curl into a small smile. “What did you say your name was…?” he asked.

“O-oh, I didn't, uh...Barry,” the brunette managed to stammer out. “B-Barry Allen...”

The name was more than likely short for Bartholomew, Oliver thought to himself approvingly. An old school name, like his own. He liked that.

“ _Barry_...” he repeated softly, smirking when the younger man shivered in his arms.

“U-um...y-yes…?” Barry asked, striking green eyes assessing him uncertainly.

“Tell me, do you happen to be busy with doing anything right now?” Oliver asked.

“Uh, er...y-yeah, actually,” Barry said with a sheepish smile. “Um...I was just taking a quick break from work, but I probably should be heading back right now, before I, you know, get late...I uh...tend to be that a lot, and...I'm just rambling right now, aren't I? Sorry...I don't even know why I just told you all of that...you didn't need to know all that...”

“Don't worry, it's fine,” Oliver said with a shake of his head. “And do you have any plans after?”

“H-huh…?” Barry blinked. “I, uh... _plans_ …? What do you mean? Like after work?"

Oliver couldn't help but to chuckle at the other man's nervousness. He appreciated that the brunette just seemed so _genuine_. It was most certainly refreshing, given what Oliver was used to dealing with.

“ _Yeah_...” Oliver replied, not at all bothering to keep the teasing out of his tone. “That's exactly what I mean. When do you get off?”

“U-uh...it actually depends. I'd like to say I'm a typical 9 to 5, but...I'm a forensic intern at Central PD, so...sometimes if a case comes in late, I could end up staying over,” said Barry.

“That's all right,” said Oliver. “You got a phone?”

“A p-phone…? Oh, um...yeah?”

“Can I see it?”

“U-uh...s-sure…! One, sec.”

Oliver hadn't expected to feel at all bothered when Barry extricated himself from his grasp, but it did, which made him feel all the more intrigued by the younger man in all his skittishness. He watched silently as Barry rummaged in one of his pockets and shortly thereafter produced a cell phone.

“H-here...” Barry said, looking curiously as Oliver took the phone from him and began to punch in a number. “Um, so...you need to make a call, I'm guessing?”

Oliver hit the call button and brought the phone to his ear before looking up at Barry with a smirk. “ _Mm_ hm,” he said.

“ _Haa_...” Barry laughed softly, giving Oliver a shy smile back. “Never would've pegged you for someone who'd forget his…”

He trailed off when he heard a buzzing coming from one of Oliver's pockets, and he eyed the older man with curiosity as he was handed back his phone; call ended.

“... _phone_ ?” Barry finished meekly as he glanced at the name in his dialed calls list that appeared to be a newly saved contact. The name _Oliver Queen_ seemed to glare up at him from his screen. “What is…?”

“Now you have my number,” Oliver said with a playful grin as he lifted up his own cell phone and tilted it quickly, side-to-side. “And _I_...have yours.”

“Oh, uh...cool…? I guess…?” Barry said, a blush slowly rising in his cheeks.

 _Oh yeah_ , Oliver thought to himself as his smile kept on his face. _This kid was going to be fun to work with._

“I'll pick you up after work,” he said smoothly. “Just give me a ring.”

“Ack! _Work!_ Oh _shit!_ ” Barry said suddenly, eyes growing big as he took a glance at his watch. “ _Crap!_ I'm going to be late! _Again…_!”

“ _Whoa_ there! Easy, now…!” Oliver said, gently latching onto part of Barry's arm. “How about I give you a ride to the station?”

“Ah, wha—?” Barry said. “Oh no, you don't have to, I—”

“You're going to be late, aren't you?” Oliver asked. “How did you get here from the station, anyhow?”

“I, er...I ran.”

“You what? _Hah…_!” Oliver said with a laugh, amusement twinkling in his eyes. “You really are something else, aren't you?”

“I-I am…?” Barry asked, face flushing.

“Yeah, you are,” Oliver said as he nudged the younger man forward. “Come on. My car's parked on the street, right outside.”

“Oh, uh...okay, I guess...” Barry said, apparently too stunned to do anything other than agree. It wasn't until after he had gotten in the billionaire's car and they started driving off that the younger man seemed to come to his senses. “Um, but aren't you like...too busy to do something like this?”

Oliver laughed. “On just about any other day I suppose, sure, but you caught me at an off moment. Hey, should I turn right here? That's what the GPS seems to be saying.”

“Oh, uh, no. It's probably faster if you do after a couple lights from now, actually. I think I remember seeing them do some construction on this road.”

“All right,” Oliver said. “Sounds good. Anyway, besides. It looks like you and I are supposed to be more than just strangers passing each other by on the street.”

“So you felt it too, huh?” Barry said with a tone of disbelief.

“I did,” Oliver said with a nod, expression shifting to something a bit more serious. “I'll admit to being surprised by it; I didn't actually think I'd experience something like it myself.”

“So why does it seem like you're so sure?” Barry asked.

Oliver half-smiled. “Well...you can say that I've been with my fair share of people. Can't say I've ever felt anything quite like what we just experienced.”

“A-ah...” Barry mumbled mostly to himself as he suddenly looked down and seemingly became fascinated with his hands. “Right. You're _Oliver Queen._  Of course you have...”

“Hey, but you know...if you have your doubts, I guess we could both confirm by each looking at the mark on our shoulders, right?” Oliver suggested, trying to quickly shift the focus of the conversation.

“Oh, um...well, that might help _you_ , but...that wouldn't really help me,” said Barry.

“Come again?” Oliver asked, raising an eyebrow and glancing over at Barry out of curiosity as he made a turn onto the road where Central City Precinct was located.

Barry's cheeks grew pink as he fidgeted nervously in his seat. “I, uh...never actually tried to figure out what my soulmark was.”

“Oh,” Oliver said, a slight frown appearing on his face. “...any particular reason why that is?”

“Well, I, uh...I guess I just wanted to be surprised when I met them...whoever they were,” Barry said, looking over at Oliver with a sheepish expression. “Kind of like how I am now...”

Oliver blinked. “I...see,” he said slowly.

“And I guess I also wanted to make sure that whoever it was, I just, you know...liked them just because I... _did_...you know? And uh...vice versa, of course,” Barry added rather quickly.

Oliver pulled up in front of the police department. “Huh.”

“Yeah...” Barry said, grimacing. “So I mean, _in theory_...well, what we felt...or what we _thought_ we felt just now...I mean...it could've just been coincidence. Especially on my part, you know? Like, you're _Oliver Queen…_! Who _wouldn't_ get a reaction from meeting you?”

Oliver's brow quirked up in amusement and Barry's face instantly became a bright shade of tomato red as he winced.

“G-gah…! I mean, no! I didn't mean it like _that_ , I just...oh god, what am I trying to say here…?” Barry stammered nervously. “What I meant was, you're like incredibly attractive, okay? And I mean, it doesn't really make sense that you felt something too, I mean, that's just got to be coincidence, right? I mean, oh _geez_...I'm just making this a whole hell of a lot worse, aren't I? You know what…? I'm just gonna, uh... _go_ now, and—”

The brunette sucked in a short breath in surprise when Oliver unexpectedly leaned over and placed a hand over his, just as the younger man had placed his other hand over the door handle, ready to leave the car.

“Hey,” Oliver said softly, tone matching the equally gentle expression on his face. “It's all right. You're fine. Call me when you get off...okay?”

Barry took in a few short breaths before finally nodding jerkily. “R-right...s-sure...” he said before making his way out of the car at last. “T-thanks for the ride.”

The corners of Oliver's lips quirked upward in a small smile. “No problem. Anytime.”

He watched as Barry turned away from him and lightly jogged towards the entrance of the station. After the younger man had disappeared from view, Oliver leaned back in his seat and pushed out a long breath before placing his car in gear and driving off from the station.

“Well damn, Ollie...” he whispered to himself as he drove to find someplace where he could wait until he received Barry's call. “Sure wasn't expecting _that_.”

Meanwhile, Barry walked into the station, feeling pretty dazed. He ran into Joe, who took a quick glance at his watch and then looked up at Barry, a questioning eyebrow raised.

“You're _on time_ ,” the detective said, with the barest hints of incredulity in his tone. “Right on the dot. I've got to say...that's a first?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah, I guess so,” Barry said, shaking his head. “Hey, Joe? Think you could do me a little favor…?”

“Sure, Barry...what is it?” the detective asked as he eyed Barry curiously.

“Could you uh...could you pinch me?” Barry requested. “Like on my arm? Real hard, like—oh! Ow! _Ow…_ ! Y-yeah...like that...okay! You can stop now! Okay! _Yeesh…_!”

Joe chuckled as Barry quickly hopped away from him and started rubbing at his arm. “Making sure you're not dreaming, Barr? I suppose that makes sense. Can't remember the last time you've been punctual like this, myself.”

“Hah…! Y-yeah...something like that,” Barry said, nodding.

Joe arched an eyebrow again. “Say...you all right, there, Barry? Did something happen during lunch?”

“W-what? Oh! N-no…!” Barry said, cringing from the fact that his voice had cracked slightly. “N-not exactly, I, uh...I think I'm just having, you know...an eventful day. Everything's fine, though…!”

The eyebrow lowered. “All right, well...if you say so, Barry,” Joe said, deciding that he'd be merciful and to let the matter go for the time being. “Get back to work then.”

Barry nodded. “Right,” he said before heading for the stairs back up to his office.

The rest of the day went along mostly like business as usual, and by the end of the day, Barry found himself staring silently at his phone; Oliver's number highlighted on his screen as Barry's thumb hovered over the word, _send_. Then, thinking better of it, Barry shook his head, exited the call menu, and put his phone away in his back pocket.

“What on earth are you even _thinking_ , Barry?” the brunette muttered to himself as he packed up his things. “ It's _Oliver Queen…_! He was probably just being nice...you know, being a celebrity and all.”

He decided to ignore the fact that celebrities also likely didn't just hand their numbers out to just _anyone_ , but well, Barry was ready to believe that Oliver had just done so out of an unintended, brief lapse in his own judgment. So when he noticed Oliver's car was parked right outside the precinct when he stepped out the door, Barry nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise. Slowly, he approached the car, and when he got just close enough, Oliver rolled down a heavily tinted window.

“I thought I told you to call me?” Oliver asked, a flit of annoyance crossing his expression.

Barry swallowed. _Oh shit_ , he thought to himself. He really didn't want to know what the consequences were for pissing off a billionaire.

“O-oh…! W-well, I, uh—” he started to say, but then stopped talking immediately when Oliver waved away his hand.

“Save it,” Oliver said. “Just get in the car. You don't need to be anywhere else this evening, right?”

“A-ah...yeah, but—” Barry had been about to protest, but then Oliver abruptly cut him off again.

“Then get in.”

“O-okay…!” Barry said, quickly scrambling into the car.

Oliver rolled back up the window while Barry pulled on his seat belt. The younger man looked over at Oliver nervously.

“So, um...where are we going, exactly?” Barry asked as Oliver started his engine and then began to drive them away from the police station. “I mean, like...are we going to be out late or something? Because if we are, I should probably call my parents and tell them—”

His eyes widened in surprise upon seeing a look of sheer panic cross Oliver's features.

“Shit, kid…!” Oliver hissed at him suddenly. “Are you _underage…_?”

“H-huh…?” Barry said, cheeks flushing pink for what seemed to be the millionth time that day. “Well...I _was_ born in '89, so...”

“So you're sixteen. Holy _shit_ you're so young...” Oliver groaned softly as he rubbed a hand over his face. “ _Right_...you _did_ say you were an intern...wait. How do you even get an internship at sixteen, anyway? And at a police station, no less? Aren't you a little too young for—”

“W-well, I-I'm taking a couple college classes now...” said Barry. “Advance program and everything...”

“So you're a genius,” Oliver said dryly.

“Oh, I don't know about all _that_...” Barry said, biting down on a part of his lip.

Oliver ran a hand through his hair and sighed. _Trust him of all people to meet his soulmate when they're still a freaking minor_ , Oliver thought to himself ruefully, although he realized the kid _had_ made a good point earlier that day. He didn't really want to entertain the thought that they weren't actually soulmates though, and that they both had somehow made some kind of mistake. He wasn't interested in making it a habit to chase after jailbait. At the very least, the age of sixteen was considered the age of consent in both Starling and Central, although Oliver knew he would still have to tread extremely lightly.

“All right,” he said finally, nodding at Barry. “Call your folks. Tell them you'll be hanging with friends until about midnight.”

He grimaced when the younger man's eyes grew round. “ _Midnight_ …?” Barry squeaked. “...I don't think I've ever stayed out past nine...maybe ten? Oh, wait, maybe if I...”

Oliver raised an eyebrow when Barry got out his phone and started dialing. “Who are you calling?” he asked.

“A friend,” Barry said before straightening his posture in his seat. “Hello? Iris…? _Hey…_! It's Barry...yeah...”

 _Iris._ That was a girl's name. Oliver decided that he was going to ask Barry about her later.

“Listen, I hate to ask you this, but do you think you could do me a really huge favor…? Yeah…?” Barry glanced over briefly at Oliver, nervously. “It's kind of a long story...I uh, promise I'll tell you later, but...do you think maybe you could cover for me…? I'm kind of going to end up staying out a bit late tonight...like, um... _midnight_ late.”

Oliver couldn't help quirking an eyebrow when Barry suddenly pulled the phone away from his ear. The older man couldn't really hear all the words clearly, but he could at the very least tell that the person on the other end of the line was speaking very excitedly.

“Y-yeah...I'll tell you all about it tomorrow or something,” Barry said eventually, when the voice on the other end had finally calmed down. “I promise, Iris. So will you do it…? Yeah…? Okay, great, thanks. I owe you big time.”

Shortly after he concluded that call, Barry went ahead and called his parents. Fortunately for them both, apparently, it was Barry's father who answered the call, and he seemed more than agreeable to the notion that Barry was going to be staying out late.

“We got lucky,” Barry said, a half-smile on his face after he'd hung up the phone for a second time. “My mom's a lot tougher.”

Oliver nodded. “Good. I'm glad you got that all sorted out...”

“So, where are we going?” Barry asked.

“We're...going to meet one of my friends,” Oliver said before glancing over at Barry from out of the corner of his eye. “Say, Barry…?”

“Mmhmm?” Barry said, turning to look at Oliver.

“Listen, if anyone asks...just tell them you're legal, okay?” said Oliver.

“H-huh…?” Barry asked, his eyes fluttering. “Y-you mean like...tell them I'm eighteen or something…?”

“Yeah...” Oliver said, the muscles on the side of his jaw pulsing a little bit. “Honestly, it would be a lot easier for me if we could tell everyone that you're 21, but I think everyone would just see right through that. Eighteen though...that's not as big of a stretch. And we can tell them you just turned it too. The way you act, yeah...that won't be as hard to convince.”

“Are we like...going to a bar or something?” Barry asked.

“More like a club,” Oliver said. “Don't worry about identification though; my friend and I have V.I.P. access, so...we can pretty much bring in anyone we want to...even if they're not on the guest list.”

“Wow...” Barry said, shaking his head in mild disbelief. “Must be nice to be able to break the rules whenever you want.”

Oliver half-smiled. “Sometimes,” he admitted.

By the time they'd reached the club that Oliver was supposed to meet Tommy at, it was around seven o'clock; the party itself wasn't really supposed to begin until closer to eight. Exchanging brief words with the bouncer at the door, Oliver was able to bring himself and Barry into the nightclub with seemingly great ease. Never having been in one of these establishments before, Barry looked about his surroundings in awe, the thought never once even crossing his mind that even if he were of age and turned out to be the club-going type, he probably _still_ wouldn't have ever come across a place quite as nice. Then when he heard Oliver speak up, greeting someone, Barry's attention became focused on the other man.

“ _Hey!_ Tommy!” Oliver said as he waved at his best friend.

Tommy walked up to him with an easygoing grin on his face, one that gave way to a look of mild confusion upon seeing Barry behind Oliver. Tommy tilted his chin slightly upward in Barry's direction.

“Who's the kid, Ollie?” he asked.

“Oh, uh, this is Barry,” Oliver said as he nudged the younger man gently forward. “Barry, this is my best friend, Tommy Merlyn.”

“Barry Allen. Nice to meet you,” said Barry as he offered his right hand out for a shake.

“Right. Yeah,” Tommy said as he shook Barry's hand somewhat awkwardly. He quirked an eyebrow at Oliver. “You going to answer my question?”

“I just did, didn't I?” Oliver said as he flashed his best friend a smile. “Now we going to get everything set up and ready so that we can get this party started or what?”

“Uh... _sure_ ,” Tommy said as he eyed Barry curiously as the younger man fidgeted under his gaze. He looked back at Oliver. “Well, come on then.”

Oliver tilted his head slightly to one side and looked at Barry. “Why don't you go take a seat on one of the bar stools while Tommy and I get things set up, yeah?”

Barry nodded. “S-sure...all right,” he said as he walked away from the pair.

“All right... _now_ are you going to tell me what's going on?” Tommy whispered to Oliver as soon as they were out of earshot. “I mean, the kid looks barely legal…!”

“It's a long story, and I promise I'll tell you about it some other time, okay?” Oliver said, expertly dodging around the subject, not wanting to outright lie to his friend about Barry's age or how he knew the teen.

“Mm...okay,” Tommy said, eying Oliver a bit warily. “I don't know what you're up to, but I trust you...just so you know though, you're the one that knows the kid, so...”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, Tommy,” Oliver said with a chuckle. “I'll keep an eye on him.”

“Okay, good, because unlike you, I'm not all too interested in starting a babysitting service,” said Tommy. “How is Thea doing, anyway? She still hanging out with that boy toy of hers?”

“He's her _soulmate_ , Tommy, not her boy toy,” Oliver said, shaking his head in annoyance. “And trust me, that's the _only_ reason why I'm tolerating that nonsense.”

His friend laughed at that. “Man, you're a total hypocrite! You're just rationalizing with that because you and I both know Thea would just keep seeing that kid anyways, even if you did try to stop them. You don't even believe in the whole soulmate thing.”

“Eh, I don't know...” Oliver said with a slight shrug. “Maybe I'm starting to understand it...a little bit.”

“ _Really_ ,” Tommy said interestedly while raising a skeptical eyebrow. “What changed _your_ tune?”

“Just from watching them interact, I guess,” Oliver lied easily as he gave his best friend another noncommittal shrug. “They make it seem effortless, so it got me to thinking."

“Uh-oh…!  What's that? Oliver Queen, _thinking?_ And about _soulmates_ , no less? Newsflash! Stop the presses!” Tommy said with a laugh. “Fresh headline—'Oliver Queen contemplates love'— _hah!_ Run _that!_ ”

“Shut up, you asshole,” Oliver said, grinning as he playfully punched his best friend in the shoulder.

“What? What was that for?” Tommy said, grinning back as he pretended to nurse his arm. “I'm just calling things as I see it.”

“Well leave the gossip-mongering to the tabloids, will you?” Oliver said.

“Yeah, yeah, all right, man,” Tommy said with a nod. “We should probably get back on task anyway. Make sure everything's in order for tonight.”

“ _Finally_ ,” Oliver said as he allowed himself a brief glance in Barry's direction. He couldn't admit it to his best friend right then, but he was eager to get back to the younger man. “We're back on the same page again."


	4. Life in the Fast Lane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because [LiselleVelvet](http://archiveofourown.org/users/LiselleVelvet/pseuds/LiselleVelvet) asked some very good questions in the comments that I imagine some other users might be asking, I'm going to post the same explanations regarding the timeline I have head-canoned for this fic in the endnotes for this chapter and in the next chapter of That Which Binds Them. There's basically four layers (and that number is separate from all the story arcs I have planned!), but like I said, more details will be posted at the end. I'd post them in the beginning, but that would be a lot of warble to go through before the fic. The explanation may spoil some ideas I have for the future, but hopefully it doesn't ruin the experience for anyone that reads it. The explanations are identical in both fics, by the way, so if you've read one, there's no need to read the other.

“ _Shut. Up!_ ” Iris said with the widest smile on her face. “ _You're_ dating _Oliver Qu—mmph…_!”

“Shhh! H-hey! Not so loud, Iris…!” Barry hissed, eyes wide and hand over his friend's mouth, muffling her words. “We're in public! Someone might hear...”

Iris rolled her eyes and nodded at him, mumbling something along the lines of, “Yeah, okay, _fine_.”

She went right back to grinning when Barry removed his hand. “You _know_ , though...” Iris whispered conspiratorially. “Guess the rumors are true, huh?”

Barry flushed. “W-what do you mean, Iris…?”

“That he really is the bad boy type, like they say,” Iris said as she spread some cream cheese on her bagel. “I mean, you've gotta be, right? Going after someone four years younger than you.”

Barry's eyes grew round. “He's _twenty…_?!”

“You're dating him and you don't even know?” Iris said, raising an eyebrow. “What kind of conversations have you been having, anyway?”

“Well, we haven't really been having _conversations_ ,” Barry mumbled, and then he suddenly waved his hands about in a denying gesture when Iris flashed him a scandalized look. “N-no! I-I mean— _god_ , why do I always seem to be doing that…!”

“ _Barry_ …! Are you two just…?”

“N-no!” Barry said, shaking his head fervently. “It's not what...I think you're thinking? W-what I meant was, it's more like he _leads_ with all the talking, and I'm mostly just kind of answering his questions and stuff. I mean, the guy moves, really, really _fast_...”

He groaned when Iris only seemed to continue to regard him with skepticism. He rubbed his hands over his face.

“Oh _geez_...” he mumbled sheepishly. “ _Seriously!_ How do I keep doing that?”

“I don't know,” Iris said, laughing lightly before a more serious expression took hold of her features. “Listen, Barry...as exciting as even I have to admit this all is... _be careful_ , okay?”

Barry half-smiled. “Yeah, Iris. I know.”

“No, I'm not sure you completely do,” Iris said as she placed a hand over her friend's. “I know you're not really the type to read or watch celebrity news, so I'll tell you. He's definitely been through a lot of girls...and while he's never really been linked to being with any guys officially, there have been rumors, and honestly? I don't doubt it.”

Barry sighed. “Iris...”

“ _Hey_. I just don't want you to get hurt, okay?” Iris said.

She smiled a little when Barry nodded. “I know, Iris. Thanks.”

“Don't mention it,” his friend said. “And if he gives you trouble? You let me know. Dad and I will go and kick some ass.”

Barry laughed. His phone buzzed, and Iris looked on as Barry glanced at his phone. By the smile that tugged at the corners of his lips, Iris felt like she could take a pretty good guess who the sender of the text message was. She tilted her head to the side when Barry locked eyes with her again.

“Is it him?” she asked.

Barry nodded. Iris half-smiled.

“Soo...gotta go?”

“Yeah...” Barry said, rubbing at the back of his neck sheepishly. “I-I mean, I don't _have_ to go…! I could always just—”

He stopped when Iris laughed and waved him off. “Don't worry about it. It's fine! _Go_. Have some fun.”

“Thanks, Iris…!” Barry said gratefully.

Iris smiled. “Hey, Barry?” she said, stopping the brunette in his tracks just as he was about to leave.

“Yeah, Iris?”

“Just keep in mind what I said though, okay?” she said. “About you being careful? All right? I know you said that you think you guys are soulmates, but...”

“I know, Iris,” Barry said with a small smile. “I won't lose my head.”

“Good,” Iris said with an approving nod. “That's all I wanted to hear.”

Barry then turned and made his way out of the coffee shop. Once outside, he took a quick scan of his surroundings and found himself frowning slightly. Oliver had texted him saying that he was outside with his car, but Barry didn't see a sign of the older man's Porsche in sight.

Then Oliver pulled up in front of him in a bright red Corvette and suddenly it all made sense. His heart skipped a beat upon seeing Oliver's easygoing grin, and Barry hopped in to the passenger's side without need for any prompting to do so. Oliver rolled up his tinted windows as soon as Barry got inside.

“You ever spend time anywhere else?” Oliver asked as he began to drive them off.

“Oh, uh...well, you see, my friend Iris works their part-time, and—”

“ _Iris_ ,” Oliver said, cutting Barry off in the middle of his explanation. “I've been meaning to ask...what kind of friendship do you guys have, exactly?”

“Oh! Well...Iris is my next-door neighbor,” said Barry.

“Uh-huh...”

“And, um...her dad's like, my boss at the precinct,” Barry continued as he fidgeted a little in his seat. “Sort of...”

Oliver raised an eyebrow. “Sort of? What do you mean?”

“Well, he's more like my supervisor,” Barry clarified. “Captain Singh is my actual boss...well, everybody's actual boss, really. But—”

“Oh, I get it,” Oliver said with a nod. “He's the head, so he's probably busy.”

“Right,” Barry confirmed.

“Which is why your friend's dad is responsible for keeping an eye out for you?” Oliver asked.

“Yeah, that's pretty much right,” Barry agreed.

“Cool,” said Oliver.

“So, um...where are we going today?” Barry asked.

“Thought we could get ourselves something to eat and then I'd take you out for a joy ride,” said Oliver. “What do you say?”

“Should I be telling my parents I'll be home late again today?” Barry asked.

Oliver half-smiled and sighed. “Yeah, I guess so...probably.”

“Okay,” Barry said with a nod as he rummaged his pocket for his phone. “What time should I tell them they should be expecting me back?”

“Eh, I don't know...around 2 A.M., maybe?” Oliver estimated.

“ _2 A.M.?!_ ” Barry exclaimed, eyes looking as if they were going to pop out of their sockets. “What on earth are we going to be doing that late?”

Oliver smirked. “That'd be ruining the surprise, now, wouldn't it? I've got several things planned for us to do that'll pretty much take up the whole day. You'll see.”

Barry's brows furrowed together slightly. “We're not like...going to be doing something _illegal_ , or anything like _that_ , right…? Are we…?”

To that, Oliver just laughed and Barry sunk in his seat, just a little. “Oh boy...” he mumbled, wondering what it was he was about to get himself into.

Fortunately, it was a Friday, and Barry was able to make up some excuse about wanting to see a midnight showing of a movie with friends, which would explain why he was coming home so late. It was a story his parents readily believed. Barry hadn't felt too good lying about it, but those thoughts were eventually nudged to the back of his mind when Oliver effectively distracted him by taking him to a rather fancy restaurant. He hadn't even known that there was anything like that around in Central City.

Barry's eyes rounded upon seeing the price of some of the things on the menu. He eventually set the menu down and across the table at Oliver nervously.

“Ah...maybe we should go somewhere else…?” Barry asked.

“Hm?” Oliver said, glancing up from his menu to look at Barry. “Something wrong? Don't think you see anything you might want to try here?”

“Oh, _no_ , I mean, like...all the food looks good here and everything,” Barry said while worrying part of his lower lip with his teeth, hoping he hadn't insulted the older man with his suggestion. “But like...it's all kinda...you know... _expensive_...”

Oliver blinked, and then his lips slowly curled into an amused smile as he shook his head. “You don't need to worry about _that_. I'm the one that's going to be paying for this meal.”

“O-oh...” Barry said, face turning a bright tomato red. “Y-you don't have to do that...”

“Hey, I asked you here, didn't I?” Oliver said, still smiling at him. “So I'm paying. Besides...I wouldn't have brought you to a place like this if I expected you to pay for your share of the meal. I'm not _that_ unrealistic. Give a guy a little credit...”

“A-ah...y-yeah, you're right...” Barry said, his fingers nervously toying with the napkin that was spread over his lap. “S-sorry...”

Oliver shook his head. “Don't worry about it,” he said. “Now pick whatever you'd like.”

Barry felt his cheeks burn a little warmer, if that were even possible, and he nodded. “...thanks.”

“Sure.”

They'd spent a little time over their meal getting to know each other. Barry learned considerably less about Oliver than the older man learned about himself. Most of the things Oliver seemed to enjoy talking about unsurprisingly revolved around the finer things in life, like summer cruises and traveling to other places around the world, on a whim. The billionaire _did_ take him by surprise though, by appearing to take interest in Barry's interests and hobbies. Oliver seemed to take particular interest in the fact that Barry liked to read, and also commended his interest in the sciences. Barry couldn't help wondering if perhaps Oliver was just being polite and feigning interest; his best friend's warning suddenly coming to mind. Oliver was a well-known billionaire playboy; notoriously known for it, in fact. Barry knew better than to think that possibly being Oliver's soulmate gave him any sort of advantage, and yet he secretly wanted to believe it all the same. The more he spent time with Oliver, the more time he felt captivated by the older man. Then again though, Barry supposed, his feelings toward Oliver were not necessarily all that special compared to countless others who threw themselves at the older man on a regular basis. Barry chose not to dwell too hard on that fact though; that thought depressed him.

After their meal, they'd gone back to Oliver's car and then the older man showed Barry a more rural side of Central City that he had never known existed. It was like they'd transported themselves to some other universe. As they drove up to a higher elevation, Barry looked around their surroundings in wonder. At that point, he had a clear view of things because it was still early enough in the day.

“Bet you didn't know all this was here,” Oliver said smugly, as if reading Barry's mind.

“No, I sure didn't,” Barry said, shaking his head. “What exactly are we doing here?”

“To have a bit of fun, of course!” Oliver said with a laugh. He nodded his head towards something up ahead. “Hey, that's Tommy's car.”

“Huh?” Barry said as he looked through the windshield. He soon saw what Oliver was talking about. “Whoa...”

Up ahead was not only Tommy, but a sizable group of several other people; some with cars, and some without. Barry looked over at Oliver curiously, as they pulled in closer.

“What are they all here for?” Barry asked.

Oliver smiled. “We all meet up at a different location, about a couple times a year or more, depending on how all our schedules look.”

“To do what?”

“ _Race_ ,” Oliver said with a cheeky grin. “See who's made the best car investment. No bets or anything, really. Just bragging rights. And believe me, sometimes that can be _a lot_ more fun than winning a bunch of money from a pot.”

“ _What!_ ” Barry exclaimed in surprise, looking as if he were about to protest. “Look, Oliver. I don't think I—!”

“Hey, _hey…_! _Ollie…_!” Tommy said, poking his head in through the window after Oliver rolled it down and placed his foot on the brake pedal. “Glad you could make it! Is this the new ride…? Looks pretty sweet!”

“Hey, Tommy,” Oliver greeted his friend with a smile. “I wouldn't miss this for the world. You know that.”

“Yeah, I know,” Tommy said with a laugh, though his humor seemed to fade a bit upon noticing Barry. He raised an eyebrow at his friend. “What's with the kid?”

Oliver shrugged. “Thought it'd be fun to show him this side of the city.”

Tommy frowned. “Kid's a bit too green to be playing games with us, don't you think?”

Oliver laughed. “Easy, Tommy. I'm not trying to replace you with him or anything.”

His friend reacted by rubbing at his nose. “I didn't say anything about that.”

“You implied it.”

“Whatever, man. I've just been noticing that you two've been hanging out a lot together recently, that's all,” Tommy said.

“How about you and I catch a couple drinks tomorrow night?” Oliver said, deftly shifting the subject. “We can talk about how I could introduce you to Laurel.”

“Oh, yeah?” Tommy said, brightening instantly.

“Yeah,” Oliver said with a nod.

Tommy grinned. “Shit. _Now_ you're talking…!”

“Just don't lose to me on the track,” Oliver said with a wink.

“Oh, you asshole!” Tommy said with a laugh.

“What'd you think? I was just going to hand her to you?”

“Couldn't you make it easier for me?”

“Not a chance,” Oliver said, grinning.

Tommy playfully smacked his hand against part of the passenger side's door. “Fine. You're on, man! Let's do this!”

Oliver nodded and shortly thereafter rolled up his window after Tommy had stepped away. Barry turned to look over at the other man.

“Are you sure it's okay for me to be here?” Barry asked.

“You worried about Tommy?” Oliver asked, chuckling when Barry looked down towards his lap. “ _Don't_. He's just jealous I've been spending so much time with someone other than him lately, that's all. Doesn't mean that I've stopped being his best friend.”

“If you say so...”

“I do,” Oliver nodded as he pulled his car up in a row that was forming. “Hope you're strapped in, real well?”

“Wait, _huh?_ ” Barry asked. “Why would I—”

“Because we're about to go _real fast_ ,” Oliver said with a grin.

Barry blanched. “W-whoa w-wait…! M-maybe I should just—”

“Uh-uh,” Oliver said with a smirk. “Besides. Show's already about to get started.”

“Eh?!” Barry said, alarmed.

Oliver chuckled. He placed his car in gear and revved the engine as a woman positioned herself someplace before all the cars. The minute she gave the signal, by dropping her scarf, all the cars roared off, Oliver's included.

“O-oh my g-god…!” Barry exclaimed, his hands flying to grip at whatever they could, and his posture immediately becoming rigid. “H-holy _shit…_!”

Oliver allowed himself a split second to glance over at Barry and then burst out into laughter. Barry looked absolutely _terrified_.

“Hey, hey,” Oliver said, trying to reassure the teen while keeping his eyes on the road. “Relax, kid. We're not going to die.”

“Um...we're in a car that is going _at least_ 120 miles per hour,” Barry said, closing his eyes and swallowing. “ _Faster_ , maybe...if you're still accelerating…! I-I don't really want to look at your speedometer— _oh god…_!”

He tried desperately to hold himself in position when Oliver maneuvered a rather sharp turn. When they were back to driving on a straight road for a while, Oliver glanced over at Barry from the corner of his eye. He half-smiled and risked taking one hand off the steering wheel, reaching over and placing his hand over one of Barry's, which was tightly gripping at the storage space in the middle.

“Hey!” he said. “Hey, Barry...you listening?”

“Mm...mmhmm…!” Barry replied as he nodded, eyes still shut tight.

Oliver laughed softly. “Listen...I want you to do something for me, okay?”

“Y-yeah…?” Barry asked. “W-what's t-that…?”

“I want you to take a few deep breaths,” said Oliver. “And then I want you to open your eyes.”

“I-I...o-oh man…! I-I'm not sure if I—”

“I'm not done,” said Oliver. “ _Relax_ , Barry, and just trust me...breathe? Focus on that first. Concentrate on breathing in and out, and get a rhythm for it. Then I want you to open your eyes, and keep focusing on your breathing. When you open your eyes, I want you to look ahead of you and pick a point to stare at. You got that?”

“I...y-yeah, o-okay...” Barry said. “But h-how is that supposed to help…?”

“You're a scientist, right?” Oliver said, half-smiling. “What you're feeling right now? It's not _fear_. It's _adrenaline_. You know what that is, right? Well you're feeling it, and a whole heck of a lot of it, and if you've never done something like this before...”

“I-I h-haven't…!”

“ _Exactly_ ,” Oliver said with a slight smirk. “So your body has no idea what to do with it—where to put it. Like I said, when you open your eyes, just focus on a point, and keep track of your breathing. Keep your eyes on that point, and imagine something...”

“L-like w-what…?”

“Like you're running,” Oliver said calmly. “Or _flying_...”

He smiled and squeezed Barry's hand reassuringly. They had a little bit more to go before he was going to need both hands on the steering wheel again.

“I promise you, once you get yourself completely relaxed like that, the world around you is going to feel like it's actually moving pretty slowly,” said Oliver. “Okay, Barry? So go on and start concentrating on your breathing... _now_.”

Eyes still closed for the time being, Barry rounded his lips and began to take in deep, unsteady breaths. Oliver gently squeezed Barry's hand again.

“There you go,” Oliver said with a slight nod. “That's it...”

Eventually, Barry was able to get a little more control over his breathing, and he slowly opened his eyes, squinting a bit at first to allow them to adjust to the change in lighting. Remembering Oliver's advice, Barry kept his rhythmic breathing going, and he let his eyes search for a point he wanted to focus on, straight ahead. He settled for concentrating on a point in the horizon line, and he gasped when he began to experience tunnel vision.

“Oh _wow_...” he breathed.

It then finally registered that Oliver was still holding his hand, and Barry felt his cheeks grew warm. They became hotter still when he heard Oliver laugh.

“It's something, isn't it?” Oliver asked.

Barry nodded tightly, too embarrassed to look over at the older man. “Y-yeah…t-this is just—”

“Now Barry...” Oliver cut in gently. “There's a turn coming up soon, so I'm going to need to let go of your hand, okay?”

“Hm…? Oh…! Y-yeah...no problem…!” Barry said, nodding perhaps a little too quickly. “S-sure…!”

Oliver smiled. Barry wanted to melt away in his seat when Oliver squeezed his hand one last time before placing it back onto the steering wheel. His body felt numb and tingly as they zoomed forward, and when Oliver let out a whoop of elation, Barry barely heard it; the other man sounded so far away. The sounds of the car's engine and Barry's breathing seemed much louder to him in his ears. Then, before he knew it, they had reached some invisible finish line, and Oliver rolled down both windows and poked his head slightly out of his, hollering excitedly as they skidded to a stop. After placing his car in park, Oliver took off his seat belt, threw open the driver's side door, and marched outside towards his best friend, who had pulled in just shortly after him.

“How about _that_ , Tommy?!” Oliver said, grinning wildly with his arms outstretched.

“Yeah, _yeah_. Shouldn't have let you get that head start on me, big boy,” Tommy said, shaking his head and smiling back.

“Oh, is that what that was?” Oliver laughed. “Because I'm pretty sure I just wiped the road with your ass!”

“Whatever, man! How's the kid?” Tommy asked as he walked over to Oliver's car. He leaned forward and poked his head in through the open driver's side window and tilted his chin slightly in an upwards nod. “Hey, kid! You have a nice ride?”

“Oh, um...y-yeah…!” Barry said with a nod, holding up a hand in awkward greeting. “It was...definitely something else, that's for sure.”

“ _Hah!_ I bet it was,” Tommy said with a wink, slapping a hand on the inside of the door before turning to shout back at Oliver. “Hey! _Told you_ the kid was green!”

“I never said he wasn't!” Oliver said with a good-natured grin.

“Yeah, all right,” Tommy conceded. “Fair enough.”

Oliver then brushed past his friend and poked his head into his own car. “Hey, Barry!”

“Y-yes?” Barry asked, raising both his eyebrows in question.

Oliver smiled. “You ready for the next thing?”

“Um...do I really have a choice?” Barry asked.

To this, Oliver just threw back his head and laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So about the timelines. Most of my response to LiselleVelvet remains the same, but I did clean up some bits that might have read confusing before. Now here we go. There's:
> 
> 1\. The Tethered Together timeline - the "original" original timeline (my made-up version); followed by,  
> 2\. The actual original timeline where Barry gets his powers in 2020 (implied by the series canon); and then,  
> 3\. The series canon timeline where Barry gets his powers earlier, in 2013; concluding with finally,  
> 4\. The That Which Binds Them timeline (the time travel implied in the prologue).
> 
> I did this mostly to explain the shifts in the relationship between Barry and Oliver through each iteration. So in Tethered, nothing has been tampered with yet. Barry and Oliver's relationship is the way "fate" meant it to be in the "original design," we'll call it. Then in the original timeline implied in the series canon, Barry marries Iris; he didn't run into the Arrow in time in that one. I implied this in chapter 4 of That Which Binds, I believe. Which is why in the canon timeline, which is what the current chapters in That Which Binds are covering, Eobard hasn't...well, you'll see. I don't want to reveal that plot point now, haha. As much as I'd like to, that's me getting ahead of myself. And then yes, we have the fourth timeline which is alluded to in the prologue.
> 
> I know, a lot to keep track of! I've kind of implied in the tags and summary (though I made sure to be super vague so people don't guess it so soon!) as to what's caused Barry to want to change time again in the prologue, so I'm excited to see what people think once we finally get there!
> 
> The key thing in the timeline I've set for this fic, is to kind of explain why Oliver is more jaded and finds it more difficult to build trusting relationships in the later timelines as opposed to my head-canon "original." I also imagine in the original 2020 timeline, he doesn't meet Oliver until after he's met his powers, but I made them meet sooner in this fic only because of the soulmate element. Hence the tags for alternate canon (a.k.a. my head-canon), canon divergence, alternate reality, etc.
> 
> Also, I think that would be a typo on the series Wiki's timeline, because in the series, Eobard causes that car crash, and then he tells the real Harrison that he needs the particle accelerator to be activated earlier. In the actual comic books, the Reverse Flash is from an even later time than the Flash. He then goes back in time to kill Iris (who is Barry's wife) one of the times. There's some other time travel debacles that Eobard does as Professor Zoom in the original comics...and you know what? LOL. I think it may be easier to just copy-paste the link...it may sort of ruin where I'm planning to go with this, but it'll probably give you a better idea at the same time. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse-Flash) Not sure why they have two sections for Professor Zoom, but just read that subheading and not the Zoom subheading; hopefully that makes more sense when you open the Wiki! ^^;;


	5. Party All Night

It was becoming a rather common occurrence, Tommy noticed, over the course of the next year—seeing Oliver with Barry Allen. It wasn't until Oliver insisted on throwing a huge extravagant party for Barry for his birthday, without actually announcing to all of the guests at the club that it was the kid's birthday, that Tommy began to wonder a little more about the relationship between the pair. He'd had his suspicions from the start, of course, even before this moment, but after Oliver had told him the real reason why they were throwing a party that evening, they only spiked. Especially when Oliver mentioned that he'd probably have to duck out around midnight with Barry, to take the kid home, and that he probably wouldn't be returning since it would be too late by the time he'd make it back. Which was why he needed Tommy—not that he wouldn't have invited his best friend anyway—just to ensure that someone would be able to close up shop, so to speak, while he headed back home after making sure Barry was dropped off safely at his house.

The other interesting thing Tommy happened to note was the fact that this little friendship—or whatever it was, really—between Oliver and Barry had even managed to _last_ a full year, with no signs of eventually waning anytime in the near immediate future. Aside from himself and Thea, Oliver wasn't really known to hang onto any other relationships, romantic or platonic, for more than a couple weeks to a few months at best. Even Laurel and Sara Lance had gone back to being more like somewhat distant acquaintances, after Oliver had felt that he'd had his fill with the both of the. The former situation had ended up be coming a rather fortunate thing for Tommy, so he wasn't necessarily complaining about _that_.

Still though, Barry was a curiosity and an anomaly, not to mention most assuredly _male_. In all their years of being friends, Tommy couldn't remember a single instance where Oliver seemed to be making a pass at another man, not quite like he did with his women, anyway. While he wasn't completely sure that's what Oliver was doing with Barry, it sure seemed like it, from where he was standing.

Tommy thought back on the most memorable events that had occurred in the past year, that had led him to such a conclusion. First, there had been that initial meeting with Barry, when Oliver introduced him to Tommy at a nightclub not unlike this one. Second, Oliver seemed to be constantly taking the kid around town in style; something Oliver only tended to do when he was trying to impress a new catch. Third, there had been a few times, especially recently, where Tommy was beginning to feel increasingly like the odd man out on their usual trips. Vacation plans that used to just be him and Oliver, but now included Barry too. The most recent one had been their day trip out on a yacht, which used to usually be a week-long trip, but the kid seemed to have some sort of odd curfew or something with his parents.

That was the other odd thing, Tommy supposed. As far as he knew, Barry was of age—though Oliver had never actually told him if the kid was, not outright, anyway. He had to be though, Tommy figured, if Oliver was even remotely entertaining the idea of messing with him. Which, again, was a weird thing to think about, in Tommy's opinion, since Oliver had never really shown any interest in other men before. Most certainly not like he was now.

“So…?” Oliver asked, smiling and plopping himself down on the seat next to Barry, speaking into the teen's ear over the music. “What do you think? Pretty rad, right?”

“Ah—mmhmm! Yeah...” Barry said, giving Oliver a shy smile and a nod. “I mean, just when I think these things can't get any crazier—”

“Hey, I thought I'd pull in a big crowd for you, being your birthday and all,” Oliver said with a smile before resting his arm behind Barry along the chair and leaning in to whisper in his ear. “Happy seventeenth, Barr.”

Barry's face flushed a deep red at the nickname; he'd told Oliver that he could use it, at some point, when the older man had asked him if he ever went by any other names. His doing so definitely did things to Barry that the teen wasn't really ready to face.

“Y-yeah...thanks,” he mumbled, desperately wanting to bury his face in something. “Gotta say though...this sort of huge get-together is actually kind of overwhelming for me. I mean…! That's not to say that I don't appreciate this or anything!”

“Huh...yeah, okay kid,” Oliver said with a nod. “Duly noted. Next time we'll go smaller.”

“N-next time…?” Barry asked, somewhat alarmed. “I...well, gee, I don't even think I can make it through this time…! I mean, I'm feeling pretty jittery...wish there was something I could do to get rid of that...”

“Say! You know what? I'm glad you mentioned that. How about I go and get you something to drink?” Oliver asked.

“O-oh, okay,” Barry said, nodding meekly. “S-sure. Do they have soda?”

“Do they have— _hah!_ Of course there's soda,” Oliver said with a laugh. “But you know...how about I bring you back something even better?”

“Y-yeah…? Like what?” Barry asked, tilting his head slightly to one side.

Oliver grinned. “You'll see! Wait here. I'll be back in a jiffy.”

Barry nodded. “Uh...sure.”

Then, just as Oliver was about to pass him by, Tommy reached out for his arm and stopped him. “Hey, Ollie. You got a sec? Mind if I ask you something?”

“What? Oh, yeah, sure Tommy,” Oliver said, nodding. “Mind asking me while we walk though? I'm trying to go and grab something from the bar.”

“Yeah, okay,” Tommy agreed as he moved together with his best friend. “Listen...about that kid you're always hanging around with.”

“You mean Barry?”

“Yeah, mmhmm,” Tommy said, nodding. “That's right. I was wondering...what's the story between you two guys?”

Oliver looked back at his friend just as they reached the bar counter and frowned. “Story…? What do you mean by that, Tommy?”

“I mean, let's be honest, Oll,” Tommy said with a shrug. “The kid's not even remotely in our league, and he looks like he could still be going to high school!”

“That's because he is, Tom,” Oliver said, deadpan.

Tommy's eyes widened in shock. “ _What?!_ ” he hissed. “ _Dude_ … ! Are you _shitting me_ , right now? You're messing with a _minor?!_ ”

“Hey! _Easy_ , man…! Not so loud,” Oliver said, frowning at him. “I'm not messing with him...not really. We haven't really gotten all that far past first base yet, and there hasn't even really been kissing. Just hand-holding...mostly, if even that.”

“You haven't— _dude! Ollie!_ That's not the point, is it?” Tommy said, shaking his head disapprovingly. “If someone catches you, you could get _arrested_ for this shit…! Or even _worse_ , if some rag mag catches wind of this, your reputation—”

“Is still in tact, isn't it?” Oliver asked before calling out to a bartender and ordering two flutes of sparkling champagne. He then looked back at his best friend. “Come on, man. You know I've been careful. Even _you_ didn't know.”

“Didn't know, but I sure as damn well suspected something was up between the two of you…!” Tommy exclaimed, responding back through grit teeth. “Listen, Oll...why even waste your time with this kid, anyway? It's been like a year, at least.”

“Well, he's interesting...” Oliver said with a slight shrug. When the bartender came back with his drinks, he tipped the man and thanked him before taking the glasses. Then he and Tommy started walking back to where Oliver had left Barry alone, sitting. “And I guess he's just different from anyone else I've ever talked to...you know, romantically speaking.”

“Yeah, a huge difference in _age!_ ” Tommy said, once again shaking his head. “ _Seriously_ , Ollie. You're going to have to give me a lot more of a convincing reason than _that_ to explain why you're risking everything just to hang around this kid.”

“Well...he also just might be my soulmate...” Oliver mumbled noncommittally, his words easily getting drowned out by the music blaring around them.

Tommy frowned. “What? What was that you just said.”

“I said I think he's my soulmate!” Oliver said, loud enough for just his best friend to hear.  "Or whatever, you know... _god_ it feels weird saying a word like that...!"

Suddenly, a whole bunch of things started to click into place for Tommy. His eyes rounded.

“No _way…_!” he said. “Is that why, back then, when I asked you about your sister and her boyfriend...”

“Yeah,” Oliver said with a nod. “I mean, I was surprised too, when I first met him, obviously for one because he's a dude, but also because he's so y—”

“ _How?_ ” Tommy asked, shaking his head, not really needing Oliver to finish the rest of that particular sentence to know where he'd been going with that.

“It was an accident,” Oliver said with a shrug. “Total coincidence, really.”

“And how do you know if you guys are soulmates?” Tommy asked. “You said you _'think'_ …? So you're not actually sure if he is…?”

“Well, when we first met we both felt that burn that, you know, people always say is supposed to happen when you first meet your other half...” Oliver said, grimacing a little from how cheesy it all truthfully sounded. “So we just assumed...”

“But you never really checked out the marks to make sure?”

Oliver shook his head. “No,” he admitted. “The kid said he wanted it to be a situation where his soulmate falls in love with him for who he was, leaving the mark out of it, and vice versa.”

“And you just _ran with this?!_ ” Tommy asked incredulously; they were now stopped a short distance away from where Barry was waiting for Oliver. The music was too loud and all of the guests were quite busy, wrapped up in their partying to pay the serious conversation being had between the two men any mind. “ _Dude_ …! What if he turns out to be someone else's soulmate, huh? What then?”

“I don't know…?” Oliver said with a shrug. “Figure it out when I get there? Like I always do?”

“Well, what are you waiting for, anyway?” Tommy asked. “It's been about a year, right? You two are probably in a comfortable enough place now, yeah? Why don't you ask to see his mark?”

“Well, I was kind of hoping to take a little more time before getting to that point...” Oliver said.

“You, _what?_ Oh god...you're really in over your head, aren't you? What are you trying to pull here, Oll?” Tommy asked, closing his eyes, tilting his head back slightly, and pinching at the bridge of his nose with a couple of his fingers. “This is _not_ the time to be playing one of your relationship games, man. At least, _please_ tell me the kid is closer to being legal than not…?”

“It's just another year, Tom,” Oliver said. “Don't worry, okay? I'm sure I can keep playing things safe up until then…!”

“Yeah, well keep _me_ out of it!” Tommy said, shaking his head. “Listen, Ollie. Most other things, we're ride or die, sure...but _this…_? If you somehow someday trip up and end up going down for it...”

“ _Relax_ , Tommy,” Oliver said with an easygoing grin. “You just keep doing your thing and promise not to drop a word about this to anyone in the presses, and we'll all be cool, okay?”

Tommy sighed. “Well, I sure hope you know what you are doing...”

“Yeah, well...thanks for looking out,” Oliver said before walking away from his friend.

Tommy watched as Oliver climbed up the rest of the steps to the privately cordoned off area and take his place back beside by Barry once again on the couch there. He then walked away muttering to himself under his breath, shaking his head.

“Is _that_ what you'd call what I'm doing…?”

“Um...everything all right?” Barry asked as he accepted the champagne flute Oliver held before him with a mildly confused expression. “I noticed you and Tommy were...er... _fighting_ , it looked like...”

“What, that just now?” Oliver asked, pointing his chin slightly upward in the direction where he'd just been. “ _Nah_...Tommy's just got his panties all up in a twist about something. I just had to talk him down from it. That's all.”

“Oh. Okay...” Barry said before looking down curiously at the drink he was holding in his hand. “And this is…?”

“ _Not_ soda,” Oliver confirmed with a cheeky grin. “But just as sweet, and you can barely taste the alcohol.”

Barry's eyes widened just a little and he looked up at Oliver. “There's _alcohol_ in here…? Uh...I've never really had—”

“ _Relax_ …!” Oliver said with a laugh. “This is baby stuff! It's no big deal. You're not really going to get rip-roaring drunk off just one little glass.”

“Er, um...okay...I guess...” Barry said, still fairly uncertain.

Oliver chuckled and clinked their glasses together before taking a sip out of his. “Just try it,” he said.

“Mm...all right,” Barry finally agreed, nodding before tilting back his own glass. After a quick taste, he blinked and then looked up at Oliver with a surprised expression. “Huh. Wow. That actually is kind of...pretty good.”

“See? It's not so bad,” Oliver said with a smile. “Go on! Enjoy the rest of it.”

“Yeah...I think I will,” Barry said, giving Oliver a shy smile back. “Thanks.”

“Don't mention it,” Oliver said, playfully scratching at the back of Barry's head for a second. “Happy birthday, Barr.”

Later on, when Barry finally made it back home to his bed, he was fairly exhausted and perhaps even just a tad bit tipsy. He ended up having one of the most restful nights of sleep he'd ever experienced in his lifetime that evening.


End file.
